


Who I Am (or Who I Was)

by audreyii_fic



Series: The Sparrowkeet Series [17]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-21
Updated: 2013-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-15 17:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audreyii_fic/pseuds/audreyii_fic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war is over, and the world spins on. Epilogue of Sparrowkeet!verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**** _

  
_** Who I Am (or Who I Was) ** _   
_(Epilogue Part One)_   


  
  
  
  
_Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet._  
  _\--Vietnamese Proverb_  


  
  
She walks in circles -- no, in rectangles. The courtyard is a rectangle. She walks in _circular rectangles_ , spiraling inward, taking off the sharp edges of her stride as it narrows and narrows, shrinks and shrinks, until she leaps onto the edge of the fountain and tiptoes along stone, arms flung wide. The red silk of her top flutters; the redder scars on her abdomen shine. Those marks wouldn't exist if she hadn't refused treatment after the Sages pulled her from the Coronation Temple, but she'd flame-broil herself before she let another Waterbender lay a dirty finger on her skin.  
  
 _Are you paying attention to me?_  
  
"Should I be, brother?" Her words chirp, like the messenger hawks she shoots down in bursts of smoke and feathers whenever they are foolish enough to fly into _her_ realm, _her_ personal little Nation, all thousand square feet of it. Azula is no fool; she knows the messenger hawks are actually enemy spies. Spies sent by the prancing dancing spinning killing Avatar and that wretched tribal peasant. But once she is done with them, the spies cannot twitter back with their little twitter tales. And they are _delicious_ in inferno chili sauce. "Do you suddenly have something interesting to say?"  
  
 _Come on, Azula. Try to listen. Do you know why I'm here?_  
  
"Yes, dum-dum, of _course_. You want me to come home _just_ long enough to bow and scrape to your precious waterbending whore." She smells the sudden smoke of his rage, and she _ignores_ the sudden smoke of his rage. He doesn't frighten her and never will. "Will you let me be a bridesmaid at your wedding? Would you like that? Maybe I can give a _toast_ to your happiness. We'll even have a brand new family portrait painted while I'm there -- you know, before you ship me back here in a metal crate with holes poked in the lid."  
  
 _There's not... I haven't even... Look, this has nothing to do with Katara. You're my sister. I'd like it if you came to the coronation. Is that so hard for you to believe?_  
  
Her tiptoes almost falter on the stone. "Why?" she asks, focusing on the vile spurts of water shining in the sun and not on his stupid scarred face. "It's not like you ever cared what _I_ thought." He can't trick her; he wants her at his ceremony for the exact same reason she wanted _him_ at _hers_ : so the country won't question the royal succession. But the Fire Nation is _hers_ , it was _always_ going to be hers, Father said so from the day of her first bending lesson, the day he smiled and called her _his Little Fire Lord..._  
  
…but now it is _Zuko_ will sit on the throne. Unworthy Zuko. Weak Zuko. Zuko, Mother's Favorite. Zuko, held in thrall by a southern bumpkin who pulls his strings and makes him dance like a puppet at a Fire Days Festival. Azula sees what is happening; after all, _she_ has pulled Zuko's strings since they were babies playing in the sand. No one else is allowed to hold them. Zuko is _hers_. "You see, brother, I don't really _care_ whether the Fire Nation accepts you. And it doesn't matter anyway -- _everyone_ knows _you_ won't be the one in charge."  
  
 _This isn't going to work, Azula. Can't you just--_  
  
"Did you ever figure out _why_ Father despised you, Zuko?" She executes a quick twirl on the tip of her boot; Ty Lee couldn't have done it more elegantly. Her _friend_ Ty Lee; her _friend_ Mai. They sold her out in the end. Trust is for fools. "It's the same reason Grandfather named Uncle after Grandmother instead of a proper _royal_ title. And why Uncle never remarried, even though he only had one heir." _Generations_ of weak men. It was a daughter's turn to sit on the throne. "Father loved our mother. He loved her more than _anything_ or _anyone_."  
  
 _That's not true. It's Father's fault Mother is gone._  
  
"No, it's _your_ fault Mother is gone, dum-dum. Father told me. He was supposed to know the pain of losing a firstborn son, but Mother offered herself to Azulon instead. Father _worshiped_ her, but she decided to die for _you_." Twirl, twirl, twirl along the fountain's edge. "Wasn't the first time, either. Did you ever listen to the whispers, Zuko? You almost killed our mother _the day you were born_. It took her _months_ to recover, but did she care? No. She just cared about her _son_. Father would rather have dropped you in the ocean. He never loved you."  
  
But _she_ loved him. Well, sort of _._ She had _looked out_ for him, which was more important, really. He was weak, stupid, spineless, had no business ruling a country, but she'd done her best to help him. All he'd had to do was step aside and bow to her. He would have been her general. Her only confidant. Zuzu could be trusted... or so she'd thought. "But go ahead. Make the sparrowkeet a Fire Lady. Wait for her to spawn a _waterbending_ heir. She'll never look at you again. And _you'll hate the brat as much as Father hated you._ "  
  
 _I'm not going to listen anymore. You always lie. Even when you tell the truth._  
  
"Tell yourself whatever you want, brother." Azula executes a clean backflip off the ledge; the fire she trails in her wake evaporates the water in the fountain and leaves only charred stone behind. But she is careful, oh so careful, not to allow the flames to touch the covered walkways. The guards will block her chi again if she doesn't. The courtyard is the only place she is permitted to firebend. Ember Island is the only place she's permitted to live. "Just wait: one day you'll see things my way. You'll be sorry you didn't listen to your little sister."  
  
 _...it's getting late. I've got to get back to the capital._  
  
"What?"  
  
 _I'll come visit again when I can._  
  
"No! I don't give you permission to leave!"  
  
 _Goodbye, Azula._  
  
"Don't walk away from me, Zuzu!" she screams, sparks at her fingertips. "Don't you _dare_ walk away from me!"  
  
 _..._  
  
"Come _back!_ "  
  
 _…_

  
***

  
  
The guards in the walkway glance at each other, then back at the exiled Fire Princess, who shoots fire at phantoms and shouts at thin air.  
  
"Who is she talking to?" the newer guard says, uncertain. He was added to the security team only two days ago, after the princess's latest escape attempt left one sentry with a dislocated shoulder and the second floor in shambles.  
  
"Today? Her brother."  
  
"But I thought he left two weeks ago?"  
  
"He did," replies the older guard. "This is just what the Princess does."

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

__

  
_** Who I Am (or Who I Was) ** _   
_(Epilogue Part Two)_   


  
  
  
  
  
_It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop._  
  _\--Confucius_  
  
  
  
There are things that Mai does _not_ do.  
  
One of them is pine.  
  
Okay, so, yeah, she's disappointed about Zuko. She'd had a crush on him when she was younger, and she might -- _might_ \-- have shed a few tears when he was banished. And it might -- _might_ \-- be that one of the reasons she'd gone with Azula was to meet up with him again. Just to show him what he'd been missing out on all these years. Maybe impress him with her knife-throwing abilities. Maybe turn her nose up a bit and make him think about how she wasn't a blushing little girl anymore.  
  
Maybe.  
  
And she might -- _might_ \-- have occasionally thought about slicing off the Waterbender's hair with a wayward shuriken.  
  
Maybe.  
  
Still, if there's anything to cure a girl of regret over not being the Fire Lord's girlfriend, it's having to stand through a two hour coronation ceremony and then mingle afterwards with the movers and shakers of upper-crust society, cup of mango juice in hand, expected to participate in the intricate kabuki dance of _politics_.  
  
The Fire Lady will have to do this _all the time_ , and, frankly, Mai would rather be thrown into a pit of elbow leeches.  
  
So even though Zuko wears his armor well and his half-smile is as endearing as it's ever been, the glint of gold in his hair reminds Mai of what he is now, and what his life will be from here on out.  
  
Nope. No regrets.  
  
Mai does not pine.  
  
She _does_ , however, remove herself from the festivities as much as possible, choosing to lounge against one of the marble columns of the Palace celebration hall, obscured safely by the shadows.  
  
Sue her if she's not feeling too celebratory.  
  
Tomorrow, she's going to have to leave.  
  
 _I tried_ , Zuko had told her and Ty Lee, _I really did. But the Earth Kingdom's not going to be satisfied until you're both in prison._  
  
Ty Lee gasped, wide eyes widening. _Why?_  
  
 _Um, it **could** be because we led the coup of Ba Sing Se,_ Mai had replied caustically. _And then gave the city to the Fire Nation._  
  
 _Oh. Yeah. Oopsie._  
  
 _But the thing is, I can't arrest you before the coronation,_ Zuko had said. _Your families are too powerful to insult. The Earth Kingdom understands that. And then, if you were to, say, disappear before I sent the guards to your house… they probably wouldn't be surprised if you eluded capture. They know how tricky you both are._  
  
More politics. Always politics.  
  
Still, Mai has lived and breathed the pai sho maneuverings of government since she was old enough yawn at her father's council meetings, and it doesn't take a genius to see that this is the best deal she and Ty Lee are likely to get. It doesn't even bother her _that_ much in the grand scheme of things; after all, one can't come up with a better excuse for avoiding one's parents than evading prosecution for war crimes.  
  
And Ty Lee, once she realized that her beloved traveling circus was the perfect place to remain on the move and incognito, cheered up instantly. Which was great for her. Even if she couldn't comprehend why spending all your time watching a performing platypus bear laying eggs wasn't the most _amazing_ way of life, it would be _anyone's_ idea of paradise, and oh Mai they really _need_ someone to do knife tricks it would be _so_ perfect and _you've just GOT to come too!_  
  
Mai will miss Ty Lee -- no, really, she will -- but living with a circus sounds even less appealing than prison.  
  
But she has to go somewhere.  
  
It's all right. She's traveled before. Admittedly, that was with Azula and Ty Lee -- her best and only friends -- but she doesn't _need_ them.  
  
She doesn't _need_ anyone.  
  
She'll be just fine on her own.  
  
Really.  
  
She take another gulp of her mango drink and wishes it were a Spark Bomb. Azula would have at least made this party _interesting_... but, well, that's that. Azula was her friend, but in the end she would have destroyed the Fire Nation from the inside out. Helping Zuko become Fire Lord was Mai's first and last great act of patriotism.  
  
Mai didn't mean for her to go crazy.  
  
Yeah. Spark Bombs would help. Or cactus juice. She's heard good things about cactus juice.  
  
It's a _little_ bit of comfort that she's not the only one miserable at this party. Sure, Iroh looks perfectly happy chatting up all the lords and ladies who'd spent the last seven years snickering behind his back, and the Waterbender's brother -- the idiot with the boomerang -- blabbers about map-making to anyone even remotely interested, oblivious to their bemusement. Two peas in a pod.  
  
The Avatar, too, is a beacon of serenity, saffron linen in a sea of crimson silk. He doesn't act like the irritatingly bouncy kid Azula had described, and he answers what have to be impertinent questions from the Sages with a lot more calm than Mai could have shown in his situation. That's probably why he's the Avatar and she's not. Among other reasons.  
  
And Ty Lee bounces from person to person, probably forgetting how it's supposed to be a _secret_ that they're sneaking away in a few hours and saying goodbye to everyone and anyone.  
  
Okay, so almost everyone else is cheerful.  
  
But only _almost_. Above it all on his new throne, Zuko keeps glancing at the entryways to the hall. All of them. Every five seconds. Or less. Like he's waiting for someone.  
  
Mai can't _imagine_ who it might be.  
  
She rolls her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, that's basically what I think, too."  
  
Mai does not jump -- she doesn't do that either -- but she _is_ surprised to discover the Kyoshi Warrior standing next to her. Not many people can sneak up on Mai. "I doubt we're thinking the same thing."  
  
"Sure we are," says the Warrior, who is in full formal dress for the occasion, white chalkpaint included. (Mai searches her memory and recalls the name _Suki_.) She nods towards Zuko, who's now shifting his weight from foot to foot and glancing at the entryway every _two_ seconds instead of five. "I don't know why he's not looking for Katara," she remarks. "It's obvious he doesn't want to be here."  
  
"He has to be," Mai replies. "It's his own coronation party. A Fire Lord can't just walk away from that; it's _tradition_." She doesn't bother to hide her contempt. What's the point, after all?  
  
But Suki doesn't seem to mind; in fact, she chuckles. "That sounds awful. Glad it's his lot and not mine."  
  
"You and me both."  
  
They stand in semi-companionable silence for a few minutes, crowd-watching. Mai appreciates that Suki doesn't babble, though she _is_ the one to restart the conversation. "Where are you heading, after this?"  
  
Does _everyone_ know she's been banished? "I'm weighing my options," she says. "I hear there's a fortune in badgermole breeding."  
  
"Have you considered joining the Kyoshi Warriors?"  
  
 _What?_  
  
Mai blinks, then turns to face Suki fully instead of just glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. "No. I haven't."  
  
"You should." Suki's examining Mai's dress robes, and -- even though Mai knows _very_ well they're concealed -- clearly sees each and every place the outfit hides a weapon. (Stilettos in her sleeves, senbons in her sash, and a kunai in her left boot, just to shake things up.) "I've never seen skills like yours before. Unless, of course, it was a fluke."  
  
A flick of Mai's wrist, and the hem of a nearby noble's kimono is pinned to the floor. He, and everyone nearby, will be in for a shock when he tries to move.  
  
Suki smiles. "We could really use that."  
  
"You _are_ aware I'm from the Fire Nation, right?"  
  
"It hasn't slipped my mind," says Suki dryly. "But the war's over. The Kyoshi Warriors need new blood. And our uniform might be _colorful enough to make you nauseous_ , but it's kind of useful for people who don't want to be recognized." She pauses, then turns her head and says to the shadows: "You can come too, if you'd like."  
  
"No thanks." It's the short Earthbender. She steps forward, picks a clump of dirt out of her ear, and flicks it aside carelessly; it flies twenty feet to land in the glass of one of the courtesans. Mai's pretty sure that didn't happen by accident. "Not until you start using rockalanches in your fancy-schmancy warrior tricks. Besides, I've got my _own_ plans." She jerks her head in the general direction of the Waterbender's brother; he's started performing raunchy haikus to the delight of the crowd. "I'm gonna help Sokka find his space sword."  
  
"Space sword?" Mai repeats, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Suki frowns. "I didn't know you were going with him."  
  
"Yup. He needs me." Toph is blind, so Mai's not sure whether she knows there's a smug expression on her face. "He knows _basically_ where it got dropped during the air battle, so we're going to stomp around the area for awhile. The space metal vibrations are pretty unique." The smugness grows into an open smirk. "Why? Jealous?"  
  
"No, since he asked me to come first."  
  
"Oh." Toph deflates slightly.  
  
"I wanted to," Suki continues, and to her credit she does it very kindly, "but I have to get back to Kyoshi Island. Sokka promised to join me there as soon as he's done."  
  
Toph's shoulders slump even more. "Right."  
  
Well. This is awkward. Or would be, if Mai particularly cared; romantic triangles are just about as boring as politics. Which is why Mai refuses to participate in one.  
  
Zuko has slipped away towards the balcony; when he pushes the curtains aside, Mai can see the outline of a figure in blue.  
  
Mai does not pine. And she does not hang on boys in love with other girls.  
  
After a moment, Suki turns and says: "I'm going to get back to the party. You'll think about it though, right?"  
  
"I might." She will. Especially since being a Kyoshi Warrior could actually be _interesting_. Better than Ty Lee's circus, anyway. "If I have to use a fan, though, it's no deal."  
  
"Understood."  
  
Mai and Toph watch -- or rather, she watches, and the Earthbender feels -- as Suki makes her way to her boyfriend's side. Sokka throws an arm around her shoulders and keeps talking; Suki smiles.  
  
"For the record," Toph says darkly, "as soon as I grow boobs, it's _on_."  
  
Mai just shrugs.

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

__

  
_** Who I Am (or Who I Was) ** _  
_(Epilogue Part Three)_  


  
  
  
  
  
_At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want._  
  _\--Lao Tzu_  
  
  
  
The party bustles inside.  
  
She doesn't mind crowds, normally; people interest her, and always have. But tonight it's too much -- especially when a clear, breezy night beckons.  
  
From the balcony she looks out over the thousand distant lights that flicker through streets and rooftops. The teeth of the volcano's edge have long since blended seamlessly with the sky, but the capital brightens itself in its own excitement. The hot-blooded Fire Nation embraces any excuse to celebrate, even the loss of a hundred years war (though few remember why they were fighting in the first place). Today a new Fire Lord was crowned; their soldiers will be coming home; and distribution of the palace's enormous store of rice wine has certainly helped ease any lingering worries over the future. However temporarily.  
  
She leans against the railing and rests her chin on her fist. "You were right," she says.  
  
There's a surprised noise behind her. (She can't help but smile -- like she hadn't known he'd been back there for twenty minutes.) But he recovers quickly enough. "Right about what?"  
  
"The Fire Nation." She points out at the city. "It _is_ beautiful."  
  
Golden fireworks explode over the rebuilt Coronation Plaza. For half a moment they hold mid-air in a perfect circle, then drip down onto the houses below, sparking as they fall.  
  
"They're happy tonight," he says, coming forward to stand next to her. He stares out at his nation. "But they celebrated for Azula, too. Who knows what they'll think next week."  
  
"You probably shouldn't be running away from your own gala, then."  
  
"I'm not _running away_ , I'm... getting some air. Even Fire Lords need air."  
  
She murmurs something non-committal.  
  
The silence is long before he says, in entirely too casual tones: "Aang's leaving in the morning."  
  
"I know." Part of her wants to correct him -- to refer to this new, somber, unsmiling boy only as _The Avatar_. Ozai is dead and the Avatar lives, but the Aang she knew is gone. He sacrificed himself for the world. He'll never go penguin sledding again.  
  
But no good comes of dwelling on that. As they have all learned, doing the right thing can come with a cost.  
  
"Sokka and Toph are going with him as far as the Earth Kingdom. Then Dad sails in the afternoon. And Suki the next day." She tries to hold in the sigh; she doesn't succeed. "They want me to come, too."  
  
"Who does?"  
  
"All of them."  
  
"Oh." He doesn't look at her, but his fingers tighten just a little against the railing. After a moment he glances over -- not at her face, but rather her wrist, which is just visible along the edge of her sleeve. (She had new robes made up a week ago when she could no longer tolerate the heat in her Water Tribe furs; she'd insisted on having the silks dyed in blue, however. The request was obeyed instantly. The Fire Lord's servants cannot seem to bow to her low enough.)  
  
"I'm fine," she answers his unspoken question, and pushes back the hem to show him. A blood-shaded blemish the size of a coin spiders across her skin, a tiny version of the one that marks his chest and Aang's back. It's the most visible of the dozen or so that are littered across her body. Souvenirs of her own Agni Kai. "How about you? How are you feeling?"  
  
"Still hurts a little," he says, not bothering to lie. "But it's a lot better than it was."  
  
"If you need another session--"  
  
"You should work on your own injuries."  
  
She smiles again, sadly this time. "They're scars. They can't be healed." Even if lightning marks could be easily repaired, she lost her chance. By the time she'd woken up -- almost a week after Sozin's Comet -- her wounds had closed. She would just have to live with them.  
  
At least they're not on her face.  
  
She doesn't say that out loud, of course.  
  
This reminds her of something she's been meaning to mention; there's been precious little opportunity for a Fire Lord to speak in private. "Thank you, by the way. For staying with me at the hospital while I was recovering."  
  
He looks at her now, obviously startled. Another explosion of fireworks plays shadows across his face. "You weren't supposed to know about that."  
  
"Sokka has a big mouth." He groans, and she adds, "He doesn't hate you as much as he did before, if that helps."  
  
"It doesn't." He's blushing; only the skin on his left cheek remains unchanged. "But you don't have to thank me. It wasn't a big deal."  
  
"Of course it was. I was unconscious for _five days._ There must have been so much you were supposed be doing--"  
  
"Uncle took care of it all. And besides, it wasn't like I could move much, either. It was either lay around in my room or lay around in yours." The blush deepens. "Uh, not that I--"  
  
"No, I don't think Sokka would like you more now if you had." She moves her hand slightly; her pinky brushes his thumb. "You should find a Water Tribe healer to keep around here. Especially if people keep roasting each other in Agni Kai."  
  
"That's a good idea." There's a moment of hesitation before he says, in one quick breath: "There's you -- you're a healer."  
  
"Not really." She can heal, but she's not a _healer_ , and she never will be. She doesn't have the temperament. "You should send a message to Chief Arnook. I bet he'll know of someone. You need an ambassador anyway."  
  
" _You_ would be a great ambassador," he says stubbornly.  
  
She rolls her eyes. "I would freeze people in place when they make me angry."  
  
"I wouldn't let you. It's not-- it would be-- Look, I understand how a government is supposed to work, but I don't know how to make people like me. But _you_ do. If you talk, everyone will listen. You could… help me." He can't meet her eyes, and she knows perfectly well how hard it is for him to say that. "And I would just block you whenever you try to ice someone."  
  
"You're not fast enough."  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
He is, but she's not going to admit it. Besides, she's fast enough to block him, too -- and she suspects she's not the only one who would lose her temper with bureaucrats from time to time. He could stand to have the occasional fireball diffused. Or at least blow off frustration with a good dueling session.  
  
"Stay." She can barely hear him over the crowds below. "I want you to stay."  
  
"As ambassador?"  
  
A beat. "No. I mean, yes, but… not just as that."  
  
She feels her cheeks warm. "Wouldn't it be a problem?"  
  
"I..." Now he's staring toward the horizon again, which she knows he can't see in the dark and wouldn't be looking at even if he could. "No, it wouldn't. I wouldn't let it be a problem. You could be ambassador -- you could be whatever you want -- and it wouldn't have to be anything else. I want you to stay anyway."  
  
"I meant me being a waterbending peasant," she corrects. "That's probably not something you need right now. No one would like my being here."  
  
He shakes his head and half-smiles. "You're a lot more popular in the Fire Nation than I am." She makes a small noise of disbelief, and he amends, "More respected, anyway. Everyone knows about how you defeated Azula."  
  
" _You_ would have if she hadn't cheated," she protests.  
  
"A village on an outer island swears you saved them from a witch--"  
  
"Only sort of. It's complicated."  
  
"--and there's a soldier who got court-marshaled last week for calling you a spy--"  
  
"That's not fair, he was right!"  
  
"--and even the people who call you a peasant think you're the most powerful waterbender in the world."  
  
"Ooh. I bet Master Pakku doesn't like _that_."  
  
"Believe me," he continues, ignoring her, "you'd be doing me more good than harm." He pauses. "In a lot of ways."  
  
She watches the fires below for so long that spots dance in her vision when she closes her eyes. "Dad thinks I should come back to the Southern Water Tribe and help rebuild."  
  
He wisely remains silent.  
  
"Sokka and Toph and Suki... they're all going to go do their own things."  
  
Still silent.  
  
"And Aang thinks I'd be useful with Avatar stuff."  
  
A hint of smoke rises from where he grips the railing.  
  
"Not like that. You have _got_ to get over your jealousy issues."  
  
"I'm not jealous." At her derisive snort, he mutters, "I wouldn't be, anyway, if you stayed."  
  
She keeps her eyes closed, takes a slow, deep breath, and stretches her senses outward, as far as she can reach.  
  
Ponds in the gardens. Pipes below the street. Oceans surrounding this island and every other island in the nation. As much water as she could ever ask for.  
  
She's amazed sometimes that there aren't other waterbenders here; when the very first of her tribe built their very first canoes and made their very first voyages, why didn't they decide to stay when they found these distant shores? Was it the heat?  
  
The turtle ducks squawk in alarm as she pulls up a little bubble of water from the pond below. With a gesture she creates a ball of ice and opens her eyes to watch it hover mid-air. Just to see how long she can keep it from melting.  
  
Heat isn't so bad in blue silk.  
  
"I want my necklace back," she blurts out.  
  
He freezes for a long moment. But then he coughs, clears his throat -- what was he expecting her to say? -- and digs into his pocket.  
  
Her carving is now attached to two red ribbons; they shine bright even in the darkness. "The leather ones burned off during the Agni Kai," he explains, tone low and embarrassed. "I just put these on so I wouldn't lose it. I'll find something else."  
  
"No, don't," she says. "It's... nice. It looks right." His eyes widen, and she reaches back to lift her hair out of the way. When he doesn't move she raises an eyebrow. "Are you going to put it on?"  
  
His hand brushes against her neck as he ties the carving in place.  
  
"I'm not Northern Water Tribe," she reminds him. "So it's not actually an engagement necklace."  
  
"No," he says.  
  
"I'm not marrying age yet."  
  
"No."  
  
"I'm not promising anything anyway."  
  
"No."  
  
"Not then. Not later. Nothing for sure."  
  
"No."  
  
"We might kill each other first."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"But I want to wear it."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Because you gave it to me."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"And I'll stay."  
  
"Good."  
  
She lowers her hair, but his hands stay on her shoulders -- a warm and heavy weight. The ice ball still hovers in front of her. Not a single drop has dripped free. She is a Waterbending Master. "I like it here."  
  
He wraps his arms around her waist, pulls her closer. "We lived through tomorrow," he tells her. He's asking.  
  
"There's a lot more tomorrows to live through," she tells him. She's answering.  
  
And she leans back to kiss him.

 

_the end._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It took me six months to write the first 59k words, then a year and a half to write the last 13k. I really have no excuse for that, so, um... yeah. Sorry. I suck.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who stuck with this until the end; in fact, thank you to those who didn't. (Every reader is important!) And, once again, a super-duper thank you to Like A Dove, whose three Zuko-bits of this fic are invaluable. I owe her bacon.
> 
> A number of people have asked about the Sparrowkeet chronology, which I understand; it's certainly jumpy. While I still believe that the most thematically and developmentally appropriate way to read is in the order published, for those who are inclined, here's the timeline:
> 
> Simultaneous (in recommended order):
> 
> Sparrowkeet  
> Strategies for Sister-Rescuing  
> The Teachings of Tea  
> Ling  
> The Princess
> 
>  
> 
> Consecutive:
> 
> A Man of the Sea  
> Heartbeats  
> I Don't Have a Clue  
> Observations from a Rock Ledge  
> A Rush of Blood to the Head  
> The Fourth Wall  
> Aang and the Avatar  
> Of Edged Weapons and Eavesdropping  
> Duels of Honor: Part 1  
> Hot Leaf Juice  
> Duels of Honor: Part 2  
> The Final Chakra  
> Who I Am (or Who I Was): Part 1  
> Who I Am (or Who I Was): Part 2  
> Who I Am (or Who I Was): Part 3
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks again, guys.


End file.
